Jegertroppen: Norway’s All Female Special Operation Forces

By RACHELE MOMI

1.0. History of the Jegertroppen

In the 1980s, the Norwegian Parliament, under the leadership of Gro Harlem Brundtland, the first female Norwegian Prime Minister, applied the Equal Opportunity Act to the military. Norway became the first NATO country to allow women to conscript.

However, the Norwegian army raised the need for an all-female unit only in 2013. In the same years, Norway contributed to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). ISAF was a programme led by NATO with the primary aim to help and support the Afghan government to provide security in the whole country.

This opportunity arose because the Norwegian male troops did not have permission to interact with the Afghan female population. The impossibility to talk to this fundamental part of the population was hindering the Norwegian effort in the country.

According to Col. Frode Kristoffersen, commander of the Norwegian special forces, “When deployed to Afghanistan we saw that we need female soldiers. Both as female advisers for the Afghan special police unit that we mentored, but also when we did an arrest.”

Before Norway’s intervention in Afghanistan, women could apply for the Norwegian Special Forces Unit. However, due to the physical requirements, the same for men, none was successful.

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